The answer is that the storage account creation will be denied because it violates the policy. This occurs because the Azure Policy definition uses the Deny effect, which explicitly blocks any non-compliant resource creation at the Azure Resource Manager level before the resource is provisioned. The policy’s condition requires the network ACLs default action to be set to 'Deny', so when the developer attempts to set it to 'Allow', the condition evaluates as false, triggering the Deny effect and rejecting the deployment entirely. On the Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how Azure Policy effects enforce compliance, particularly the Deny effect’s role in preventing non-compliant configurations like permissive network ACLs. A common trap is confusing Deny with Audit or Append—Deny stops the action, while Audit only logs it. Memory tip: “Deny blocks the build, Audit just logs the guild.”
AZ-305 Design data storage solutions Practice Question
This AZ-305 practice question tests your understanding of design data storage solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Refer to the exhibit. Your Azure policy team has created the following policy definition. After assigning this policy to a subscription, a developer tries to create a new storage account with network ACLs default action set to 'Allow'. What will happen?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The storage account creation will be denied because it violates the policy.
The policy definition uses the 'Deny' effect, which explicitly blocks any non-compliant resource creation. Since the developer attempts to set the network ACLs default action to 'Allow', this violates the policy's condition that requires the default action to be 'Deny'. Therefore, Azure Resource Manager will reject the deployment before the storage account is created.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
The storage account will be created if the developer uses a different resource group.
Why it's wrong here
The policy is assigned at subscription level, so all resource groups are affected.
✓
The storage account creation will be denied because it violates the policy.
Why this is correct
The policy denies storage accounts with network ACL default action set to 'Allow'.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The storage account will be created with a default action of 'Deny' automatically.
Why it's wrong here
The policy denies creation; it does not modify the configuration.
✗
The storage account will be created successfully because the policy only audits.
Why it's wrong here
The policy effect is 'deny', not 'audit'.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse the 'Deny' effect with 'Audit' or 'Modify', assuming the policy will either log the violation or auto-correct the setting, rather than understanding that 'Deny' blocks the operation outright.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Azure Policy with the 'Deny' effect leverages Azure Resource Manager's role-based access control to evaluate policy rules during resource creation or update. The policy condition checks the 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/networkAcls.defaultAction' property; if the requested value is 'Allow', the evaluation fails, and the API returns a 403 Forbidden error. This is critical in real-world scenarios where organizations must enforce network security baselines, such as requiring all storage accounts to block public access by default.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-305 question in full detail.
Design data storage solutions — This question tests Design data storage solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The storage account creation will be denied because it violates the policy. — The policy definition uses the 'Deny' effect, which explicitly blocks any non-compliant resource creation. Since the developer attempts to set the network ACLs default action to 'Allow', this violates the policy's condition that requires the default action to be 'Deny'. Therefore, Azure Resource Manager will reject the deployment before the storage account is created.
What should I do if I get this AZ-305 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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